Bullet With Butterfly Wings
by Lilli Vanessi
Summary: An angel's mistake lands Dallas Winston back on Earth. Completely and entirely AU.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: S.E. Hinton owns all the characters. I am simply borrowing. Smashing Pumpkins own the title.

* * *

Paisley touched the tip of Dallas Winston's dead finger, sending a surge of energy through his body. Heat spread like wildfire to every last extremity, and suddenly his heart began to beat again. The heartbeat was slow at first but quickly picked up to a normal pace, pumping blood through his cold, limp vessels.

She smiled, satisfied with her work. Sometimes bringing people back to life didn't go as planned. Last time, she only managed to revive half of the dead person's body, but this time, everything seemed perfect.

She took a few steps back and watched patiently, waiting for him to regain consciousness. It usually took a while, as the brain could be slow to rejuvenate, but this time it didn't take long at all. Dallas Winston's eyes shot open almost instantly, but the unusually quick revitalization didn't faze her too much. She shrugged it off and took it as another sign of her perfect work.

She smiled again, thinking about how the other angels would praise her. It wasn't that she was conceited or that she wanted them to be jealous. After all, angels weren't allowed to _be_ jealous. She simply felt guilty for the times she hadn't done so well. As her "perfect" older sister Scarlett so loved to point out, she was the black sheep of the family. It seemed as though she could never get anything right, but this time, she had.

She crouched down beside Dallas and gently spoke to him exactly what she'd been intstructed to say: "Dallas Winston, do not be afraid. I am here to assist you."

The insant the words let her tongue, Dallas shoot up and glared.

"I bring you good news. God wishes for you to walk the Earth again!" Paisley added with enthusiam. "Praise His holy name!" She smiled brightly, hoping to take that scowl off his face. She did not understand; a second chance at life usually put humans in a good mood. Why was he so grumpy?

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold it, dollface." His voice was raspy and squeaked as he spoke, but the words still came out clear enough to be understood and with more intensity than she'd ever heard out of the newly awakened dead. "What's with the religious mumbo jumbo? You mean to tell me all that Sunday school bull crap is real?"

"I do not know what mumbo jumbo means," she explained hesistantly, "but I can tell you it _is_ the Father's will that you shall live again."

"What the hell?" He shook his head violently and slammed his fist against the floor. "I wanted to die! Tell that bastard no thanks. I'm stayin' dead, damn it."

She gasped slightly, shocked at the immediate anger in his tone. "Pardon?" No one had ever talked to her this way. It was puzzling. Most people were elated to be brought back to life, but apparently not him.

She stepped back a couple more feet, and his gaze followed her as she moved. Everything about him looked menacing—especially his eyes. They were blue, and so icy it was painful to look at into them. She stared into those eyes, into his soul, and instantly knew something was horribly wrong.

_Oh no_, she thought, _Oh no, oh no, oh no, this cannot be happening. _Sometimes in the spiritual world, people got sent to the wrong resting place. She'd heard about it before, but she never thought she'd see it herself. Dallas Winston didn't belong in heaven; he should've gone straight to Hell.

Paisley pulled her list out of her satchel and nervously checked the list of names on it. At first glance, nothing appeared to be wrong, but when she took a closer look, her face turned from its natural golden color to bright pink. Dallas _Windsor_—that was who she was supposed to revive—not Dallas Winston. She couldn't believe her stupidity.

"Who the fuck are you anyways?" Dallas asked, but she was too shocked by her misdeed to answer.

God was not going to be happy, and as much as she wished she could just suck the life right back out of him, it didn't work that way. Once she'd restored life, there was no taking it back. She hoped Dallas Winston wasn't nearly as bad as the first impressions he was giving her. If she was lucky and that was the case, God might give her a break, but the likelihood of that happening was slim. The last time an angel had inadvertently unleashed a menace back on society, God had taken away her angelic abilities.

The possibility of losing her abilities was almost scarier than Dallas Winston. She'd worked _so _hard to receive them and even graduated top notch from angel school. Her parents had been very proud of her, and the thought of disappointing them made her sick. But unfortunately, at this point, disappointment seemed inevitable. Even if she did get to keep her abilities, her brainless mistake would still be disgrace to the family name for eternity.

"Hello? Are you deaf or something?" Dallas went on angrily. "Who are you, goddamnit?!"

Hearing his irate voice again caught her off guard and broke her away from her thoughts. She sighed and composed herself long enough to answer the question. "Paisley Jasmine," she said softly. "Level Three Angel."

"And please watch your language," she added. "God does not like it when you take His name in vain."

"What kind of a fucking name is Paisley Jasmine anyways?" he asked, ignoring her request.

"A family name actually."

"No shit?" he sneered. "Maybe Ponboy really ain't the dumbest name ever. Paisley Jasmine. Boy, Mr. Curtis's got nothin' on your folks..."

She bit the tip of her tongue and shook her head. Paisley was her maternal grandmother, a highly respected archangel in Heaven.

"Well, _Paisley Jasmine_, wanna tell me where I am?"

At that moment, she was sorely tempted to hit him. One hit from an angel ought to knock him out for a few weeks, nevermind that angels were strictly forbidden from using physical violence against a human. God deemed it unfair thousands of years ago, but he was defaming her family name. It was a crime among angels, punishable by permanent demotion, to defame another angel's name. There had to be some kind of clause against humans.

She took a deep breath in, forcing herself to calm down, and exhaled. "You are in a waiting room between Heaven and Earth"—she took another breath and continued—"I must send you back to Earth."

"Well, I ain't going, sweetheart." Dallas Winston shook his head and smirked. "I read the Bible once. I got free will, bitch. You can't make me do shit. End of story."

"_Please_ watch your language," she begged again. "Yes, you do have free will, but now that you are alive again, your soul is attached to your body, and a body can never enter heaven. They are impure and tainted with s..."

"Then send me to Hell," he cut her off.

"As much as I would love to, I am afraid I cannot do that either," she explained, trying to control the tinge of frustration in her voice. "If you were to be in Hell, a demon would be with you. But since I am an angel, I am expressingly forbidden from ever nearing the gates of Hell."

"Yeah, yeah, Satan was an angel once, too," he scoffed. "Send me to Hell."

"No."

"Well, fuck that. How'd my soul make in back in my meat suit anyways?"

"I reunited them."

"You what?" She could see the fire in his eyes as he spoke, and he sprang up to attack her, backing her into a corner. Thankfully her heavenly glow shielded her from him somewhat, but she was still very intimidated by him—even more so than before.

"You should be very grateful I did. I wasn't supposed to; it was a mistake." It was his ungratefulness that bothered her the most. If she had to suffer for the mistake of bringing him back to life, he could at least be happy about it.

"Damn right it was a mistake!" he yelled. He moved to attack her, but the bright light from her halo blinded him and he ended up punching the wall instead.

"Well, _sorry_ for giving you a second chance at life, I guess." She mentally kicked herself for snapping at him. She _wasn't _supposed to snap back no matter how cruel and hurtful someone was. If there was one rule she _had_ to follow, it'd be that one.

"Well, don't just stand there. Put me six feet under, ya retard!" He punched the wall a few more times, still mad he couldn't attack her.

"I already told you, I can't." She sighed. "Your soul is now attached to your body, and they will not seperate until you die again. You have to go back to Earth."

He scowled. "Well, then send me back already. Shit, you really are stupid. And people thought I was dumb…"

She groaned and rubbed her temples before hesitantly pointing at the door. "Just walk through that door; it'll take you there."

She watched anxiously as he opened the door and walked into the vortex that'd take him back to Earth. Part of her was relived his was gone, but the larger part of her was worried about what she'd just sent back to Earth. _Oh dear_, she thought, _what have I done_? She prayed desperately that God would forgive for this. Well, he'd have to eventually; he was _God_.

She took a seat on the floor in the middle of the room. She was in _no _hurry to get back to heaven. God was going to be livid, and on top of that, she'd be the laughing stock of angels for years to come. Maybe it wouldn't be_ that_ bad, though. In angel school, they'd told her to never judge a person off of first impressions because sometimes they were misleading. For all she knew, that could be the case with Dallas Winston. Maybe he was just one of those people that didn't like to be woken up in the morning. In that case, being woken up after death would be more enough to make him furious.

It made sense, and she'd gotten her hopes up slightly, but the uncertainty still ate away at her. Finally she decided to look at his life chart to get a more accurate look at him as a person. She snapped her fingers twice, and the record book appeared. But when she located Dallas Winston, what she saw unnerved her. His record was the longest she'd ever seen—stealing, lying, cheating... He'd used the Lord's name in vain 800,946 times. The list went on and on.

She shut the book, and it promptly disappeared. Unfortunately, her impressions had been _very _accurate; he was without a doubt a menace to society. Another wave of guilt crashed over her when she thought about the person she'd just sent back to Earth. God was not going to be happy—that was for sure.

But there wasn't anything she could do now. Whether or not she or anyone else wanted it, Dallas Winston was alive again. She could only hope the world was ready for round two.

* * *

AN: (From 2012! Oooo)

HELLO FANFICCERS! My God, it's been a decade since I've done any of this interwebz shit. Just a word to old and new readers. This story is self-admittedly weird, and AU in about seven hundred different ways. Not meant to be taken seriously, but then again, maybe it is... I honestly don't know. You decide!

BTW I am still forever grateful to the 32 freakin' reviews you gave me for the first two chapters. You guys ROCK! Return the love on ch. 3? ;) It's been a while since I've done writing outside of academia, so my apologies if it sucks. BUT I UPDATED. After the world's longest hiatus, too! :P

And lastly, I really do not know what the title has to do with the story, so I apologize for that confusion. I'm guessing it made sense in my head some nearly three years ago when I first wrote it, but memory lapse! I'm keeping it anyways, because the song kicks ass.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: S.E. Hinton owns the Outsiders; Smashing Pumpkins owns the title.

* * *

Paisley Jasmine wished she could stay in the waiting room for the rest of eternity. At the moment, it seemed a million times better than the thought of facing anyone in Heaven. But then reality caught ahold of her. This room would eventually need to be used again, so it wouldn't suffice as a hiding place. Besides, trying to hide would most likely make things worse than they already were going to be.

But even though she realized prolonging facing the angel hierarchy probably wasn't the best idea, it still didn't produce the courage for her to face them. She currently sat on the floor, knees pulled to her chest. She was shaking so hard she felt as though she were five years old and hiding from her mother after accidently causing a tornado in Nebraska.

"Paisley!" a voice yelled.

She shot up a bit, startled by hearing her own name, before curling back up again and avoiding answering the door. It probably wasn't her best choice, but she was terrified.

_So much for being praised for a quick revitalization_, she thought. This was bound to get her reprimanded, just like she always had been for every other mistake, and it wouldn't just be any reprimand this time. It'd be the reprimand of all reprimands.

She wasn't sure who was on the other end of the door, and part of her didn't want to know. Hopefully they'd figure no one was in the room and leave, giving her more time to brood over her impending fate with God. It would be so much easier if he could just show up and doll out her sentence up front, but only a select few angels could converse with God directly. She would have to wait for one of them to reprimand her.

"I know you're in there," she heard the voice speak again, and this time she instantly recognized the voice as her sister Scarlet's.

Paisley rolled her eyes and curled up tighter. Some of the fear left her. It was just her annoying older sister. She probably didn't even know about what happened, and as far as Paisley was concerned, she didn't need to know. Knowing Scarlett, she'd take the information and head straight to their parents, who would turn her over to the respective angels immediately.

The doorknob turned, and Paisley jumped.

"What in Heaven are you hiding for, Paisley?"

"Nothing, Scarlett." Paisley crossed her arms and shifted her gaze as far from her sister as possible.

"No, it _is_ something. You wouldn't be trembling on the floor if it wasn't something."

Paisley groaned inwardly. She hated her sister's perceptiveness and lack of trust for her. Sure, she wasn't exactly the golden child like Scarlet, but she didn't need to be constantly reminded of it, even if it was abundantly obvious.

"Look, you're going tell me what happened now, or I'll tell our parents about this. _And_ all the other times I've had to clean up after your mistakes. "

Paisley groaned again—this time loud often so Scarlet could hear her. Scarlet pretended to be this perfect, heavenly being, but really she was a conceited, pretentious suck up who always used her perfect reputation to blackmail Paisley.

"You know they'd take my word over yours," she taunted, and Paisley sneered.

As much as she was annoyed with Scarlet, she knew she was right. Their parents would belief what Scarlet said in a heartbeat and probably wouldn't even give her the chance to defend herself before getting on her case.

Paisley sighed. "Fine," she said reluctantly but tensed up again.

She was anything but excited about spilling her mistake to her sister, but Scarlett glared at her and she finally cracked. "So, I was supposed to revive someone today…" She trailed off, biting her lip.

"And?" Scarlett raised an eyebrow.

"And I revived the wrong person," she quickly spat out before she could have second thoughts about it. She cringed, waiting for Scarlet's response. Her sister was probably going to chew her out on top of whatever else her would happen later.

But much to her surprise, Scarlett burst out laughing. "Oh, sweetie, I've done that before."

"Really?" Paisley perked up. The thought of her sister making a same mistake was a huge relief.

"Of course, every one has," Scarlett continued. "That's hardly your fault. The angels who make the lists put the wrong names on them all the time."

"I didn't know."

"Not many do. Angels don't like to readily admit their mistakes you know."

Paisley nodded. She was elated but still slightly skeptical of the information her sister had just given her.

"So who did you revive then?" Scarlett asked, still chuckling.

"Dallas Winston."

Scarlett's laughter immediately ceased, and there was a long silence.

Paisley's stomach tied into a huge knot again, and her heart began to race. Something had told her it was too good to be true earlier, and by the look on her sister's face now, that was definitely the case.

"You sure?" Scarlett looked shocked and baffled. "Paisley… you didn't, did you?"

Paisley bit her lower lip and nodded. "I did," she said softly.

"How could you?" Scarlett cried, outraged. "Paisley, there were warnings about his name! Didn't you pay any attention when he died? Gabriel specifically told us to stay away from him!"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"But what? Dallas Winston has one of the top names on the the "Do not revive" list for weeks! My gosh, you're stupid."

Paisley cringed. She hated being called stupid—especially by her sister. She wasn't stupid. Maybe she was a little absent-minded, but she certainly wasn't stupid.

Scarlett ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head. "God's not going to be happy."

"I know…" Tears began to form in Paisley's eyes. She knew that; Scarlett certainly didn't need to remind her by stating the obvious.

"I don't even know what to say. Dallas Winston? What were you thinking?"

Paisley honestly didn't remember what she had been thinking. It had been a brainless mistake. The tears in her eyes began to stream done her cheeks. This had to be the worst mistake she'd ever made, and words could not describe how guilty she felt.

She quickly wiped the tears away, trying to hide the face that she was crying, but it didn't matter. Scarlet had already noticed.

She shook her head again and sighed. "Here," she began, " I think I might be able to help you."

"How?" Paisley was unconvinced. "You said it yourself. I'm stupid. I make stupid mistakes. Stupid mistakes that can't be fixed."

She was an absolute wreck by now. She wished this one of those bad dreams—the kind you get when you're worried about failing a test in school. Maybe she was just really nervous about messing up revitalizations and this would all turn out to be a horrible nightmare. But as much as she hoped, she knew that wasn't the case.

"Calm down," Scarlet almost snapped. "I'm pretty sure I've been successful in helping you out in the past, haven't I?

"Yeah, but…"

"So have some faith," Scarlet said confidently. "Look, God likes it when angels take responsibility for their actions and try to fix them. So, you follow Dallas around and make sure he doesn't wreak havoc."

Paisley wiped away more tears. It sounded like such an easy solution the way Scarlet said it, but she was still doubtful. It seemed to good to be true. "But wouldn't God be upset I didn't tell him about it, first?"

"I'll tell the head angel to tell him you're taking responsibility for your actions."

"You'd really do that, for me?"

"I suppose so." Scarlett sighed. "Stupid or not, you're still my sister."

Paisley felt slightly relieved. It seemed like a plausible plan, and it would keep her out of trouble with God. She'd get to her wings and her angel abilities. Plus, she might be able to prevent her mistake from becoming too serious. Maybe God would be impressed she took swift action.

"You really ought to get going," Scarlet told her, extending her arm to Paisley and helping her off the floor. "From Dallas Winston's records, he's probably already in the process of creating trouble."

Paisley nodded. There was no denying that. She walked over to the door to the vortex that would take her to Earth and gulped, looking back at Scarlet.

"Thanks," she added before opening it and hesitantly stepping into the giant swirling cloud.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders. Smashing Pumpkins own the title.

* * *

"If I were Dallas Winston, where would I be?" Paisley mumbled to herself in a café.

She had checked everywhere, but Earth didn't make much sense. There were so many people and places, and unlike Heaven, there wasn't a magic screen that displayed everyone's location at all times.

"Dallas Winston, where are you?!" She stood up and called out loudly.

Several heads turned, and she immediately sunk back into her seat. Clearly, shouting in a cafe was socially unacceptable on Earth.

"Excuse, miss?" One of the servers approached her. "Did you just say Dallas Winston? As in Dallas Winston…"

"The Dallas Winston that took the Lord's name in vain 800,946 times," Paisley rambled off. "Yes, that one. Do you per chance know him?"

The young man looked at her strangely. "Do you think this is funny?" he asked.

Paisley studied his face, trying to discern what was supposed to be funny. "I do not understand your human kind of humor…" she resigned finally.

"What?"

"Wait a minute," she corrected herself. For all these people knew, she was human. She had to appear normal. "I mean, why would I think that is funny?"

"I don't know who the hell you are," the man said bitterly. "But don't you go shouting a dead man's name like that. I mean, what's wrong with you? You sick in the head?"

"Sometimes I feel sick in my head," Paisley admitted to the strange fellow. "I think it's called a headache."

"You okay, ma'am? Look, I shouldn't be so rude to ya. I mean, you're a customer and all… It's just that he was a buddy of mine."

"I guess he was me, too." Paisley wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that, but she figured she needed to play along to get more information. This man could prove very useful.

"How'd you know him?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I, uh…" Paisley struggled. "Well, you see…"

"You don't hafta go on. I catch your drift…"

"Thanks."

"He sure got around," he said with a chuckle.

"He did," Paisley agreed. Humans definitely moved around more than humans, so she figured that must have been a true statement.

"I can see why he liked ya," the man said, taking a seat across from her. "You're kind of cute for a psycho broad."

"Thanks."

"You know, most chicks would have my head for callin' 'em psycho."

"I don't understand," Paisley said slowly. "My mother was not a chicken, and I do not eat heads…"

"Golly, you are a riot!" he laughed and shook his head. "The name's Two-Bit, by the way."

"But your name tag says Keith…"

"Well, everyone calls me Two-Bit, so feel free."

Two-Bit held out his hand; Paisley stared at it for a moment and held out hers next to it.

Two-Bit grabbed her hand and shook it. This practice was very confusing, but she supposed that was one of the ways humans interacted with each other.

"My name is Paisley."

"Pretty name for a pretty gal. Say, why don't cha meet me at the Dingo tonight? I gotta finish busing the tables here or the boss'll fire my ass." He winked at Paisley. "I mean, I'd love to stay and chitchat, but it's my first week on the job."

"Okay. Where is the Dingo?"

"Oh, quit playin' with me, you know where it is!" He got up and smiled broadly. "See ya tonight!"

Paisley watched as he disappeared into the kitchen. Two-Bit knew Dallas Winston. She had her first clue to his whereabouts. Of course, she'd have to convince this Two-Bit that Dallas was alive, but he seemed kind enough to help her.

Satisfied with her progress, she exited the restaurant, but her moment of triumph was short-lived. Standing right next to the entrance waiting for her was Scarlett, and she looked anything but please.

Scarlett placed her hand Paisley's head, and they were immediately jolted to waiting room.

"Scarlett," Paisley managed anxiously. "What's going on?"

She glanced around the room; there were odd symbols she did not recognize on the walls.

"We're in a secret location," Scarlett explained. "None of the head angels can see us here. See these marks? They keep them from entering."

"Can't God still see us, though? Paisley asked. "And where'd you learn to draw things like that…"

"Nevermind the marks. I have my ways. And trust me, honey, God has plenty of other things to worry about, answering all those human's prayers," she said hastily. "He doesn't worry about us angels unless the one of heads tells him to."

"But you told me he knows everything all the time!"

"Oh please," Scarlett went on. "That's only for scare. Now, back to business. I know where Dallas is."

"I could've found him…" Paisley shuffled her feet and looked away. Once again, Scarlett had outdone her.

"Well, we didn't have time for me to wait on that." Scarlett grabbed Paisley's chin and tilted her head so she was staring directly at her. "Listen, I did some research and found out how they're going to punish you if they find out, and we cannot let that happen."

Paisley gulped and nodded. "What would they do to me?"

Scarlett shook her head and sighed. "Just trust me that it's bad."

"Tell me," Paisley insisted.

"Fine," Scarlett said solemnly, "but you have to promise me you're not going to give up when you find out."

"I won't!" Paisley insisted. "Please just tell me. I need to know."

"They… They'll banish you to Earth."

"What?"

"They banish you to earth to live as a mortal, and that's not all." Scarlett hesitated for a moment. She looked sad. Truly sad. It shocked Paisley to see that her sister cared this much about her.

"It will be okay, Scarlett," Paisley piped up, trying to convince herself just as much as her sister. "Your plans always work. You never fail." She hated to flatter Scarlett, but it was true. This was one time where having a sister like her might not be such an bad thing after all."

"It better work, Paisley. If I fail, they put a mark on your soul."

"A mark?"

"I'll explain that later. Dallas is only going to be where he is for another two minutes," Scarlett explained, hastily shoving her towards the portal back to Earth. "You have to hurry; if you can stop his demise, no one will even notice you revived him. We have to keep his name out of the book of sins as much as we can. The more it appears, the greater the risk… Now go!"

"Wait!" Paisley cried, as Scarlett pushed her into the vortex. "You didn't tell me where Dallas is!"

Paisley rematerialized on a park bench. She scanned the area, and much to her surprise, Scarlett had zapped her to the exact location, as Dallas was sitting on a bench next to her.

"Hello, Dallas," she greeted him, as warmly as she could muster.

"Hey," he said crossly. "I know you. You're that angel bitch. Can't you leave me well the fuck alone?"

"Actually no… See, I have to keep your name out of, erm.." she stopped herself, realizing "the book of sins" would sound crazy to any humans that might overhear them.

"Keep my name out of what?"

"The Book of Sins," she whispered.

Well, good look with that."

"Please," Paisley insisted. "It's very important!"

"Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Mind your language, young man," Paisley said as authoritatively as she could, doing her best to imitate the mother she'd observed scold her child. Maybe that kind of tone would work with Dallas.

"Fuck Jesus. Fuck God. Fuck angels."

Clearly, it didn't.

"Mary was a whore… how many sins was that?"

Paisley crossed her arms and shook her head disapprovingly. "One too many…"

"Good," he said firmly. "By the way it's a real shame you're a prude angel. How many years in purgatory does hitting on an angel cost me?"

"I don't know." Paisley shrugged. "Hitting an angel is a very bad sin… Maybe a month."

"I said hitting ON an angel, you dumbass..." Dally laughed.

"How does one do that?"

"Like this." Dallas scooted closer towards her. He put his hand on Paisley's shoulder, which made her jump slightly. "Damn, you got the finest rack I've ever seen," he said. "And I actually mean that. Are all angels this blessed?"

"God grants his blessings on all of us, yes. Even you humans."

Dallas looked at her strangely. "You don't even know what "rack" means, do you?"

"I'm afraid not, but I'm glad you think I have a nice one."

"You wouldn't if you knew what it meant," Dallas said with a smirk.

"What does it mean then?" Paisley asked nervously.

"Like I'm gonna tell you…" Dallas shook his head and scratched his chin. "I think I'm gonna go put my name in that book a few more times. See ya around, dollface."

"Dallas wait!" Paisley called after him. "You can't!"

"Free will, Paisley, free will."

And with that, he fled.

* * *

AN: In case anyone is wondering, I'm not entirely sure what kind of angel universe I'm using here. Well, I was raised Catholic, and to say I watch a lot of "Supernatural" would be an understatement. So this angel verse... Probably going to be a stunning combination of shit I've seen on "Supernatural" and stuff nuns taught me. With my own overactive imagination thrown in. Pretty exciting, no?


End file.
